DC Velocity - November 2018

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Introducing

iDock Features

• Interactive message display • Dock equipment counters and information • Dome button technology for ease of use • Advanced 3-color light communication system

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iDock Controls Half McGuire.pdf 1 8/30/2018 4:22: 51 PM

Freight spending increased by double digits in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2017 despite lower freight shipment volumes, reflecting rising average freight transaction prices, according to the latest quarterly index of U.S. freight activity from financial services giant U.S. Bank.

However, that bill could have been even higher, since freight spending slowed slightly in the third quarter compared with the second quarter of 2018, under the weight of a moderating U.S. economy, storm damage from Hurricane Florence, and early impacts of rising tariffs in a growing trade war, the bank said.

The Minneapolis-based bank produces its U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index based on information submitted by companies that use the bank to process and audit their freight payments. The report tracks a comparative measure of spending, not absolute dollar values.

By those measures, U.S. freight spending in the third
quarter declined 1. 2 percent from the second quarter but
was up 13. 5 percent from the same period last year. U.S.
freight shipment volume in the third quarter dropped 5. 2
percent from the second quarter and was down 1. 1 percent
from the corresponding period last year.

Spend remained high despite the drop in volume because of constrained trucking capacity due to an ongoing commercial driver shortage, according to Bob Costello, a freight industry analyst and chief economist for the American Trucking Associations who provides commentary on each report.

“Linked quarter declines in both freight shipment volume and spend are in line with the deceleration many expected in third-quarter gross domestic product growth,” Costello said in a statement. “As trucking often leads the broader economy, the decreases seen in the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index suggest economic growth may have peaked and may decelerate in the fourth quarter and beyond.” Nonetheless, Costello doesn’t see the capacity crunch easing anytime soon. “Despite the sequential decreases in freight shipments and spending last quarter,” he wrote, “the national truck market remains solid and capacity tight.”